


Shattered Illusion

by Kiri_Kaitou_Clover



Series: The Magpie and The Crow [2]
Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: AU of an AU, M/M, Persona 5 Royal plot points kinda, Route: Dead Goro, bc akechi never remembers in this timeline, implied akeshu, may do Route: Alive Goro in the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover/pseuds/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover
Summary: He doesn’t revert.He doesn’t change back and that is the first red flag that something was very wrong.(Where Goro still dies in The Magpie and The Crow AU version of Persona 5 Royal, and Akira knows full well that the person in front of him should bedead. The way he explains it to this version of Goro is veryveryconfusing.)The Magpie and The Crow AU Masterpost
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: The Magpie and The Crow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655779
Kudos: 20





	Shattered Illusion

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Magpie and The Crow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039560) by [Kiri_Kaitou_Clover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover/pseuds/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover). 



> I wrote this months ago after a depression spell and after examining the P5R Opening a little too closely. The Magpie and The Crow AU (The first chapter of the fic of which I have recently posted) has one tiny issue should it cross into P5R territory - how exactly will Akira retain his form past the final battle?
> 
> Answer - The wish that brings forth Illusion!Goro takes hold before the final battle.
> 
> So. A small snippet into the world of The Magpie and The Crow in the P5R setting. It isn’t exactly following P5R’s plot but rather some of the changes that was revealed in the trailers. Not really too spoilerish if you’ve read into the trailers and the OP as much as possible (not like I can do much since I haven’t even watched the gameplay ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ )
> 
> (Quick Summary of The Magpie and The Crow AU: its a verse where Akira and Goro were birds, specifically a magpie and a crow respectively, and these birbs made a deal with Yaldabaoth to play his game while they are human.)

He doesn’t revert.

He doesn’t change back and that is the first red flag that something was very wrong.

His friends were cheering at the false god’s defeat. They didn’t know that he was supposed to change back the moment he’d destroyed his contractor. They never knew of his true form. He never told them of the truth.

He assumes it is a boon. A prize, given by the blue butterfly of change, the other god who represented humanity. 

_~~A prize he didn’t wish for without **him** by his side. It feels like the chains of his deal binding his wings all over again, trapping him in a form that should have vanished, all without the sweet relief and freedom to finally mourn **his** death in peace.  
~~ _

The last months in school were surprisingly fun. It was as if a happy ending had descended upon them all, dreams coming true, wishes fulfilled…

And then more hints of things that were wrong with the world came into view.

The cat of Hope gaining a human form, could have been easily been brushed off as another boon from the blue butterfly. 

The return of his new sister’s mother was a shock. She was supposed to be dead… right?

But. Was it his right to point out the differences in the world they were in? It was their happiness at stake. What right did he have to snatch it away from them?

_~~Could he even trust his memories anymore with how they’d begun to blur with the illusion? How much of their happiness was fabricated? How much was reality?  
~~ _

Then **he** returned. But not in the form he’d wanted. Not in the form he’d expected should **he** have been alive.

And that shattered the illusion.

“You are not him, are you.”

“… I expected to take longer to convince you of the illusion. What gave it away?”

“Your form.”

“My… form?”

“Pretty as your human form is, if you really were alive, you would have approached me in a form that wasn’t… this.”

“… As much as I am a cognition conjured by your subconscious wishes, I do not share the memories with my other self. So do explain.”

“I can’t turn back. Something keeps me from reverting back to my true form like I should have. Your other self had one too. After all, you made the same deal as me.”

“A deal?”

“We were birds, Goro. A magpie and a crow, little caged birds who were simply pawns on a false god’s chessboard. We ignored our instincts in favor of our wish to be human, and we paid the ultimate price. The name your other self chose had been no coincidence, but I would have wished he’d remembered before he’d died. And now…”

“… Do you wish to shatter the illusion, Akira?”

“I’d rather have reality than live in a messed up illusion… even if that reality doesn’t have you in it.”

“Then you know what to do.”


End file.
